Avatar: The Legend of Zhe
by Tsukaiyo
Summary: 87 years have passed since the opening of the world's third spirit portal, and the Avatar cycle has continued. Technology has rendered bending virtually useless, and the effect it has had on benders is monumental. Venture into the world of a 21st-century Avatar, and witness how time has changed everything.
1. Prologue

Fire. Air. Water. Earth.

* * *

...This is the Legend of Zhe...

~It's pretty amazing. It changed our lives, and it may change yours.~

{}We did things that we didn't dream we were capable of and made friends with people we never thought we'd meet. {}

IT WAS THE CRAZIEST AND MOST DANGEROUS THING ANY OF US HAD EVER DONE - AND THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING.

 **Oh, and the world almost ended a few times!**

...This is a story of runaways, renegades, and traitors. It's a story about the search for, and escape from power; the wars between all-mighty rulers and kids on the street...

~It's the story of heroes who needed saving, too.~

BUT WE'RE GETTING AHEAD OF OURSELVES.

{}It all started on a simple day, like any other.{}

 **This is the Legend of Zhe,**

...And this is how it goes...


	2. Chapter 1: Not Alone

Chapter 1: Not Alone

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day. I was exhausted, but at least I got to go home. The hallways swarmed as if filled with bee-ants, and moved like a rushing river, pulling and tossing anyone who dared to step into the current. As usual, I stayed behind to avoid the insanity. After most of my classmates had funneled outside, I cautiously stepped out. As crazy and dangerous as it is, that's life. It happens everyday.

Upon my exit of the building, an obnoxious laugh filled the air. There were five or six guys about my age loitering in front of the school, underwear proudly displayed above their baggy pants, cackling like the fools they were. No doubt one of them had just insulted someone, causing the rest of the pack to howl in support. I suppose I should let them have their fun: everything's over for them after high school anyway. They weren't all that bright, nor were they physically impressive. In fact, I cannot for the life of me think of a single positive thing about them. And of course, they were blocking my path home. One of the thugs spotted me

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going?" he yelled.

"C'mon, don't you want to say hi to us?" called another.

"He's such a freak. I heard his mom got caught a while ago. I bet he's just like her!" I didn't want to deal with them, so I turned around to find a different way home. I put in my headphones to block out their further provocations. Behind the school, there's a small grove of trees surrounding a creek. I slipped into its protective cover.

When I was confident that I was alone, I turned off my music. The natural babble of the stream replaced the shouting of idiots. _How could they be so aggravating_? I'm not one to let frustration get the best of me, but they touched a , I kicked at the ground. A shock-wave of earth rose from my footfall. My ability to bend earth to my will, known as 'earthbending', still comes as a surprise to me sometimes, but that doesn't change that it happens. Suddenly, I heard something from behind me. It was impossible to process whether it was a voice or a snapped branch or something else, but it didn't matter. My mind only processed that someone else was nearby, and that wasn't good.

I pulled up my hood and bolted in the direction opposite of the sound. If someone had seen me use my power, I couldn't let them know who I was; that might as well be a death sentence. A female voice called after me, but I couldn't risk looking back. I dodged tree trunks and massive, protruding roots as I ran, surprised at how I actually managed not to slip on the muddy ground or mossy stones. My pursuer was not as fortunate. To my astonishment, she jumped into the stream, and started to sway her arms over it. The water reacted harmoniously with her movement: she was a waterbender! But I couldn't stop going: the risks that come with being discovered are too great.

The girl ushered a wave to bring her up beside me, fear washed over me. I tried to turn away, to leave the water's edge before she could catch me. Before I had a chance to do that, her arm shot out from her side, ordering a flood to pour over the creek's groove and into my path. It turned to ice immediately as I stepped onto it, and I fell hard on my back. I tried to shout, but the wind was knocked out of me. My lungs continued their strike against me as my pursuer crept closer.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" her voice cut through the sudden silence.

"I didn't mean to! I'm _such_ an idiot. You were just- wow! And I needed to talk to you! And- and-! Sorry." This strange girl really liked to ramble on. As I began to stand again, she tried to help; I refused it. I could properly see her now: she appeared to be about my age, 15 or 16 years old. The girl had tawny brown hair that rolled in light waves just past her shoulders. Her sapphire eyes sparkled with life, and she seemed to bounce as she stood. She wore a dirty white and teal tank top with black leggings, and she was still wet from her time in the water. She smiled at me almost childishly, with an excitement I'd never seen before. She was, without a doubt, the strangest person I'd ever met.

I wanted to try to leave again, but not only were my lungs still recovering, I was quite sure that my alarming assailant would try to stop me again anyway. I settled for asking her my questions,

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" I demanded.

"Well, I saw you using Terra, and I just had to come over and say hi! I've never actually met another kinetic before, and I just think it's so cool! Oh, and I'm a… I'm Mizuka," she gushed. I was confused

"Terra? Kinetic? What does that mean?"

Her face pulled itself into a puzzled stare.

"You _were_ making the ground move back there, weren't you? You're a terrakinetic."

"You mean an earthbender? Um… no, that's not me. You didn't see anything. I have to go," I announced as I realized what she was asking, and started to shuffle away. I pulled my hood over my face and hoped she wouldn't follow.

But what else would a strange person from the edge of the woods do? She trotted alongside me, and she wouldn't shut up.

"I know I saw you… earthbending? Is that what you call it? You stomped and the ground rose up. What's your name? I told you mine, but you never told me yours." I ignored her, and picked up my pace a little. She almost tripped, but matched my speed.

"Where are we going? And why are you being so quiet? I said I'm sorry if this is about what happened back there," she chirped. I couldn't take this.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" I mumbled.

"Nope! Not a thing."

"Go home!" I insisted. Mizuka answered,

"I'm still trying to figure that part out." She turned her head and pursed her lips pensively.

"As of right now, we just came from my place." I didn't understand what she meant,

"You live at the creek?" She nodded and hummed in confirmation. I didn't know what to say to that. I felt bad for this girl, but I wasn't sure what to do. So, I just kept walking. Very soon we came to my front door. I know the house is nothing impressive: it's about as old as this city and the paint is peeling. The door sticks when you try to open it, so you have to jiggle the handle. The windows are all pretty old, and can be opened from the outside. There have been a few times when I was little that my dad locked the keys inside, so I had to crawl through the kitchen window to open the front door for him. But, it's home. The only home I've ever known. I walked through the front door: my dad hadn't gotten back from work yet. I didn't quite want to leave Mizuka outside, but I figured it might not be the best idea to invite inside the strange girl who chased me down and followed me home. I threw myself down on the couch and let out a sigh. Another weird day come and gone.

It wasn't long until my dad arrived. It was pretty mundane after that: dinner, homework, and sleep. The next morning was like usual, hard to believe yesterday even happened.

But then a classmate approached me at lunch, asking about what I did after school the previous afternoon. They asked me about a girl I was with yesterday, and told me they thought they heard us talking about bending. _Is there no such thing as privacy anymore?_ I thought to myself. I denied that I'd even been near the creek yesterday, that it must have been someone else.

If anyone finds you can bend around here, bad things start to happen to you. Some people become jumpy around you, as if you could throw a boulder at their head at any second. Others outright name you as a member of a triad, gangs of benders that use their abilities to take whatever they want from whoever is unfortunate enough to cross them.

Your friends leave you, and good luck ever finding a job. Aside from a few that are able to pass their bending off as a circus act and perform, most benders pretend to be normal. False commonality doesn't usually last long, though; you get emotional enough, or even just sneeze in some cases, and your cover is blown forever. I hate that I'm cursed with earthbending. I know that since my mom was caught bending, people have been suspicious of me. My dad gave every cent he had to cover it up, and now he's stuck working multiple jobs. But it's still not enough. People are like piranhas, waiting for me to make a single misstep so that they can eat me alive.

I went home my usual way again, only a few minutes' walk. To my surprise, Mizuka was waiting for me on my front porch.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot yesterday, but I thought that maybe we could… hang out or something. Could you come back to my place with me today?" she pleaded. I told her that I couldn't, since someone heard us talking about bending already. Maybe some other time. She seemed like she understood that, until she announced,

"Fine, but you should still expect me to wait for you here everyday until you come with me." I was very uncomfortable with that; it was certain to raise suspicion.

Mizuka seemed to pick up on my unrest with that thought, and furthered her threat:

"I'm not sure why you care so much about staying away from bending. It's a natural part of who you are. Not like there are any laws against Terra- I mean, earthbending. You should be proud to be a bender; I know I am. In fact," She walked back the few steps from my house until she was at the street. She took as deep breath and started to scream,

"Bending is AWESO-" I rushed to clap my hand over her mouth as fast as I could. I stared daggers at this terrible girl as I slowly released her, but she was smiling mischievously, knowing that she'd won.

"You know, if you're trying to make me hate you, you're doing a great job!" I told her as we walked. Mizuka's head dropped a little, but she was still smiling.

"I know, I know. I keep messing things up, but you're actually the only person I've talked to since I got here, aside from when I get food. _And_ you're a bender!" I kept quiet, wondering how I got myself into this. Just over a day ago, everything was completely normal. Now I have to deal with this crazy homeless girl that chased me in the woods and says she won't stop showing up at my house. Mizuka respected my silence, at least until we arrived at the stream.

She approached the water's edge, and leaned against a tree.

"So, the reason I brought you down here, is, um… I had never met another kinet- uh, bender, in person before I met you. And I was hoping you'd like to practice with me," she explained nervously.

"And we're alone. I checked before I came to get you, and it doesn't seem like there's anyone here now either."

Before I had the chance to answer, she turned towards the creek and sat messily on the ground. It looked more like falling than sitting. I considered turning around and going back home, locking the door, and even calling the police if she wouldn't leave me alone, but she seemed to mean well, even if she was a pain. Besides, I didn't want to risk anyone believing her if she decided to mention that I'm a bender too.

Taking a deep breath, Mizuka held her arms out and angled them downwards. Slowly, she started to rock back and forth and elevate her arms. A ribbon of water pulled itself up from the waves like a cobra from a basket, dancing for its charmer. She drew it towards her by retracting one of her outstretched arms, and the water broke away from its source. Swirling both hands above her head, the levitating fluid made a halo. Mizuka then gracefully guided her magical crown back into the stream from which it came. The strange girl let out her breath, which she didn't seem to know she was holding.

"Your turn," she stated.

"Yeah. Right..." It took me a second to snap out of my trance.

Mizuka waited for a few seconds before prompting me again. That's when what she asked of me really registered. She wanted me to earthbend? On purpose? There didn't seem to be anyone nearby, as Mizuka said, but I had been wrong about that before.

"Please? For me? And look, say there was someone non-kinetic, or non-bender - whatever you call it- here; what do you think they'd do?" she inquired.

"Run away as fast as they could, I guess. The few times I've seen bending, that's the usual reaction," I replied. She flinched for an instant, but regained her composure and smiled.

"Then if anyone _were_ here, we'd have heard them leave. Or, if they're somehow so quiet and careful we didn't, they'd have gone after they saw me bend just now anyway. You have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

I had to admit, she got me there. I suppose that I was glad deep down. There was a small part of me that had always wanted an excuse to try my power, though the my common sense fought the urge. Now, however, I had this girl in front of me who was the only one in the world to know about what I am, and she accepted me. Not only that, but she wanted to see more of it. Despite the awkwardness that had filled most of our time together, I couldn't help but secretly enjoy her company. For the first time, I felt like I could really trust someone.

"Zhe," I breathed.

Mizuka titled her head. "What did you say?"

"My name. It's Zhe," I repeated.

She giggled, then said, "It's nice to meet you, Zhe. Now how's about you show me some earthbending?"

My gaze turned to the ground. I wanted to do it; I just wasn't sure _how_. I decided to try stomping again. It worked yesterday; why would today be any different? I picked up my right foot and plunged it into the ground. To my surprise, it only caused the moist earth to be indented about an inch deeper than normal. Mizuka was unimpressed.

"What was that?" She complained, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Hey," I huffed. "I tried, but it's my first time doing this intentionally, alright?" Her mouth fell open with disbelief, and she uncrossed her arms, starting to stand again.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know. I assumed you knew how to… I mean, bending is just so great! I thought that every bender would try to practice as much as possible!" Mizuka exclaimed. "But, I can try to teach you, if you want. I know it's waterbending and not earthbending, but I'm sure the basic concept's the same."

After I hesitantly accepted her offer, she stood by my right side.

She instructed me, "Just copy what I do."

Mizuka moved almost exactly as she had a moment earlier, but now slower and standing. Her motions pulled water out of the mud instead of out of the river, this time. I did my best to imitate, and soon the earth in front of me started shifting slightly. I was so excited that I could hear my heart pounding! My fingers were shaking with exhilaration! But then, something happened that would change my life forever.

Out of the shifting earth before me, a small, flimsy stream of water rose. I froze, causing it to plummet to the ground with a splash, quickly followed by the sploosh of Mizuka's own. An enormous grin grew across her face as she let out a shrill shriek of excitement. My mind stopped as my world crashed around me. Her thrilled remarks of amazement and wonder flew right past me, until that one, single word slammed into my consciousness. "Avatar".


	3. Chapter 2: The Renegade

Chapter 2: The Renegade

It took me a few minutes to recover after finding out that I'm the lucky kid who's in charge of... existence, really. The Avatar is the person who is reincarnated every lifetime, part of a spiritual linage over 10,000 years long, and is supposed to be the greatest person in the world: an impartial leader of the world. My breath caught in my throat, and I could hear my heartbeat thudding in my ears. A shiver ran through my body, and my mind froze. Soon enough, Mizuka shook me by the shoulders to thaw me.

"Zhe! Can you believe this? Or should I say Avatar Zhe?" she ducked into a bow, then awkwardly stood up again.

"Shhh! Don't call me that!" I snapped. I could not be the Avatar. It was bad enough to bend a single element: now I had to watch everything I do so that I didn't accidentally bend the other three? That was it. My life was over.

And just as I thought that things couldn't possibly get worse, Mizuka asked me, "Hey, is that your stuff over there?"

I looked over my shoulder and what do I see? My bag, which I had completely forgotten about, was being stolen by some guy. I couldn't afford to replace those textbooks! I couldn't lose the notes either: my dad would kill me if I failed another test. I took a few running steps in his direction, but stopped and let out a groan.

Mizuka gasped, "I have a great idea! Let's go get your backpack back! I'm sure we can take that guy. No problem for the Avatar, right?!" She seemed to be completely forgetting about how I couldn't even bend my own native element a few minutes ago.

She stumbled, but still took off after the thief. I had never noticed how strangely she ran before, but it didn't matter now. I followed her reluctantly. It took us only a moment to find him: he was in the first alleyway we came across. I felt a bit insulted to know that this guy wasn't even really trying to get away.

He was sitting on top of a rusty dumpster, his left leg hanging over the side. My notes were strewn across the ground, piles of ash on some. The young man, perhaps 17 years of age, had pulled a stack of paper out of my bag and was finding new ways of setting them on fire. For one, he simply conjured a flame into his palm and burned a corner of the page, then let it fall to the cold asphalt floor. Another one he tossed into the air and shot a small fireball at it. His long dark hair fell out from in front of his scarlet eyes and to sides of his thin face as he gazed gleefully at the pyre.

"Nothing good today, huh _?" he said, turning to the raccoon-owl perched on his shoulder. The little creature had a dark, furry face and grey belly, and charcoal banded wings. She chirped her agreement, before noticing us. She hissed and puffed up in warning.

"I was wondering if you'd follow me." He smirked as he jumped down from the dumpster. This was a bad idea. Why did I let her drag me into this? I thought to myself, filled with dread of what could happen next. That's when Mizuka did what she does best; the waterbender ran towards him a few steps and started enthusing over him.

"You're a pyrokinetic! That was so awesome, what you were doing with the fireballs! And you're so good at it too!" She turned towards me. "Zhe, isn't this cool?! This city really is amazing! Every time you turn a corner, boom! There's another-"

The thief's eyes widened, but then he snickered at her outburst and replied "Woah, calm down there, Bubbles. I'm always glad to meet someone who appreciates bending, but you're going a bit overboard. Speaking of which, you're from up North, aren't you? Makapu, maybe? Or Fire Fountain city?"

"Yeah, pretty close to there. How did you know?" she inquired.

He rolled his eyes. "You called me a pyrokinetic. Only people from major non-bender cities say that. So what are you doing so far from home?"

"Ummm... T-That doesn't matter. Give us Zhe's stuff back!" she stuttered. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but kept smirking.

"Just why exactly would I do that? It's fun to play with, even though it's pathetically worthless. You'll just have to take it from me. But how do you expect to do that?"

I reached over to Mizuka's shoulder: it's dangerous to mess with guys like him. But, against all common sense she naively declared

"We challenge you to a bending duel!" 'Bending duel' isn't even a term, but that aside, I couldn't believe she had roped me into this. Sure, it's my stuff, but I would rather not have my face burned off.

Our antagonizer couldn't stifle his laughter anymore.

"You asked for it." he warned. With that, he let off a fireball in our direction. We dodged, and it hit the wall a few feet behind us.

"Oh, Spirits. We're dead." Mizuka murmured, realizing her error.

"Water! I can't waterbend without water!" She pulled what she could out of the mud that stuck to our clothes, but it wasn't more than a few drops. She froze it into an icicle and sent it flying in his direction, but a quick inferno jutted out from his palm to melt it before it could do any damage. To make things worse, he was still laughing at us!

I mimicked a few earthbending moves I'd seen on TV, but to no avail. Suddenly, bust of flames sailed right at me. I dodged, and it flew out of the alleyway and onto the street. A shrill scream erupted behind me, and the firebender's smile vanished.

He grunted in annoyance and stopped fighting. I glanced at Mizuka, and noticed that she had fallen to the ground and was trying stand again. He grabbed her hand.

"Come with me."

He pulled her to her feet and glanced at me.

"You too, school-boy." He added disdainfully.

"Why should we?" I demanded. Who does he think he is, stealing from us, almost burning us to death, then expecting us to follow him?

"You seem like decent people. Well, at least she does. So I'm giving you a choice. That screaming lady out there ran for the police. The nearest officer is two blocks away. Now, you can either come with me or you could let the police take you away in... oh, about a minute, now." A chill ran through my body as he spoke. I couldn't believe it: I had gone all my life under the radar, and now I've been almost revealed twice today. Incredible.

Mizuka and I glanced at each other, and we wordlessly agreed.

"Alright. Lead on."

The stranger bolted further down the long alley, his loose, layered clothes picking up the wind behind him. I scooped up my bag and gathered a small piled of unsinged notes in my arm and followed, Mizuka trailing behind me. Adrenaline flooded my veins and we raced through the maze of backstreets. I was starting to feel a bit burned out- which didn't take long- when we reached a dead end. The three of us faced a tall, rusty wire fence. Mizuka and I were starting to wear out, but our guide calmly started to climb.

"You've gotta be kidding me." she remarked. "I can't do that."

"And I was starting to think you were cool." he breathed. Louder, he said "Fine. I'll help you over. But school-boy here's on his own."

I quickly shoved my papers into my bag and tossed it over. It landed with a heavy thud. Scaling the barrier was easier than I expected, though my expectations weren't great. After we were over, we turned a corner and stopped outside a rusty old building. The thief pulled the plain metal door open and motioned for us to join him.

Despite the massive exterior of the structure, inside was a tiny room, completely enclosed by steel walls. It just had enough room for the three of us, as well as a girl, about 12 years in age, on a stool waiting in the room. Beside her was a table holding a round stone, a bowl of water, and a deck of playing cards. The stale air was illuminated by a torch burning on the wall.

The young girl's face lit up up as soon as she saw the guy who brought us here.

"Hey!" she greeted him.

"Hey! How's it going, Goldie?" he laughed.

"You're weird!" She giggled. "But nothing new today. Except for these guys." she said, staring and Mizuka and me. "Who are they?"

"Heh, just some greens I found while making rounds. We ran into a bit of a situation, so yeah." I raised an eyebrow - my silent complaint at being called a 'green'. The girl nodded in understanding.

"If you say they're cool, I believe you. But, rules are rules. They still have to pass the thing." She gestured towards the table. "Show me whatcha got." she prompted. Mizuka looked relieved to be provided with her element, let alone to be asked to bend, and gleefully obliged. I was baffled my the repetition of being forced to use my bending so often.

I watched as my friend placed the scratched stone bowl on the cold floor and sat beside it. She held out her left hand sideways, palm facing outwards. Her right palm was facing the ground, but held close to her body, with her elbow out. With a deep breath, she began to move. The way she gently guides the water is hypnotic, like watching a metronome beat to your favourite song. Her arms cycled around slowly at first, but picked up speed. Her palms turned in unison, swapping orientations every half-rotation. Her fingers moved as if playing a mystical piano, and the water was her adoring audience waving its support. As her arms increased pace, the water spun faster and faster until it was a whirlpool. She let an excited laugh, no longer able to suppress her joy. I could feel my spirits raise just watching her: she was literally in her element.

That's when her pattern changed, her song reaching a bridge to a new verse. She slid the heels of her hands together, palms facing outwards, and swooped the motion upwards. The vortex rushed out of its containment and bursted gloriously into a sparkling mist. I was dazzled by the magnificent display the fluttered down towards me. She held her position for a second, then released her breath as separating her arms to opposite sides of her body and looping them back into folded hands. The mist gathered itself back into a single floating body, which she lowered slowly back to whence it came.

"That's gotta be the craziest entrance pass I've ever seen." mused the little girl. She turned to me expectantly. I had so many questions.

"Why are we doing this? What will bending in here accomplish? What is this? Who are you guys? What entrance pass?"

"Aren't you suddenly the chatterbox? Once again, you have two options. You can either be like your girlfriend here and trust me- always the better option, really - or you could be an idiot and ignore my help." offered the smug robber.

"She's not my girlfriend." I reluctantly snatched the rock off the table and placed it on the ground. I inhaled and exhaled deeply, then braced myself for pain as I forced my foot down on the stone. I could feel the harsh impact on the centre of my sole, but was somewhat pleased to see that the rock was somewhat flattened.

"That's it?" remarked the girl called Goldie. She scoffed and telekinetically pulled it back up until it was hovering just above her fist. Opening her hand forced the rock back into its original round shape.

"I guess he called you a green for a reason! But I suppose it qualifies." Goldie stood up from her stool and faced her back to us.

She stretched her arms above her head and curled her fingertips towards the wall of the building. I stifled a sharp gasp as she slammed her fingers into the steel, hard. It would be more than enough force to break bones, yet the metal she touched gave way like a thick fabric. She tore her hands down through it, and the wall crumpled. She dragged to the ground a section about the size of a door- the rest of the wall was still in tact, though the ripped apart edges were jagged and dangerous.

She stepped away from the hole and sat back down. She picked up the stone and started playing with it as if it were merely a lump of clay.

The mysterious man in red who brought us here spoke: "Welcome to Paradise."


	4. Chapter 3: Refuge

Chapter 3: Refuge

We stepped inside the hidden room, and the steel wall was sealed shut behind us. What awaited me seemed too impossible; it left me utterly speechless.

The room glowed like a campsite: dark, but lit by warm firelight. It had the same enchanting serenity as laying under millions of stars, even though it was daylight outside. The massive room was windowless, but felt safe instead of confined. It smelled like a campsite too: the scent of earth and burning wood.

The sound surprised me: dozens of conversations were carrying on, some laughing, some were singing along to songs. Lessons were being taught, and questions asked. It was strange: not one artificial noise to be heard.

One thing was common almost everywhere I looked, though: people were bending. Instinctively, I tried to step back, retreat from this dangerous world, but hit the wall that had been closed behind me.

The building's inhabitants seemed to range from as young as six to people in their early twenties.

In the back right corner, four firebenders tossed flames back and forth in a deadly game of catch. One of them was showing off, somehow bouncing it off his foot, then hitting it with his shoulder like a hacky sack. They were all hooting and cheering him on in his burning display.

Beside that was a massive pile of rubble and scrap metal. At its base, a few teens and kids were in two different groups. The first had its people concentrating on the boulder in the center of the pile. Their movements were not quick or wild like those of the firebenders, nor flowing like Mizuka's waterbending. The power in each stance was unmistakeable, the harsh, blunt punches and pulling motions commanded their target, forcing it up and down. Though this seemed to be simple training for them, they seemed so focused.

The second group was much smaller- it was actually a pair. They were nowhere near as active, standing still and calm. Each concentrated on a clump of iron that floated above their hands. Flicking and rotating fingers spun and molded the shiny grey metal into mixes of spikes, balls, and almost liquid-forms.

To my left, three waterbenders were beside a plastic kiddie-pool. Two of them, and boy with light brown hair and a dark-skinned girl, both about 13 years old, were staring intensely at each other from about ten feet apart while a boy about a year or two older than me stood almost between them. A bucket was beside each of the younger kids. It appeared that a sparring match was about to begin.

"Ready..." cautioned their referee.

"Go!" When the match started, the two kids drew the water up beside them in a split second. The boy made the first move; he extended his arms behind him and sprung them forward. The water burst towards his partner in a powerful torrent, but she had been expecting it. She swiftly shifted to the right and reached towards the incoming wave with her left hand. As it came at her, she spun. Her light blue sundress fluttered up elegantly, as if she was showing it off. The girl's right arm was holding her own liquid weapon perfectly still the whole time. When her turn was complete, the boy's attack was pointed back at his direction, but faster now. The girl merged her own water into it, and before anyone could register it, the boy was soaked and lying flat on his back.

"Owwww..." he complained, as he stood back up.

"Match over. Victory to Turtle! Good luck next time, Kota," announced their moderator.

"Woohoo! Can't beat real Water Tribe blood!" shouted the girl.

I turned to the man that lead me here. "That girl's name is... Turtle? And the one outside is Goldie? And what's your name, anyway?" I asked.

Before he had time to respond, "Turtle" called out.

"Hizoku!"

"What's up? Nice job back there," the thief, apparently called Hizoku, complimented.

"Oh, that was nothing! You should have seen me back home! We really know how to fight in the South!"

"I'm sure you do," Hizoku smirked. Turning to face us, he said, "This is Konni, but we call her Turtle-Mom because reasons. She's the one in charge around here."

"So, who are these guys? I haven't seen them around before," Turtle-Mom looked to Mizuka, who had been uncharacteristically quiet. "You're water, right? No one wears blue _that_ bright unless they're water."

"Oh... Um, yeah. I am. My names a... Mizuka. Yeah. Sorry, this is just a lot to take in. I thought I was lucky to meet one bender," she gestured to me, "but a whole secret _world_ of them? It's breathtaking."

"Well, I don't know about this being much of a _world_ ,but we do our best. We were founded a while back - no one really kept track of when - for people to practice the ancient arts without fear of being judged, a safehouse of sorts," Turtle pointed to the final corner of the massive room, where about a dozen sleeping bags, blankets, and old mattresses were set up. Most had pillows, some had mounds of clothes, books, and an array of other items piled onto them. Others had one or two small things, and the last few were bare.

"You'd be surprised at the number of people we get with nowhere to go," she said dejectedly

Hizoku threatened the floor with a fierce scowl.

Mizuka spoke up. "Hey, you're saying that this is a building meant for kids like us who want to practice bending? And you can live here for a while if you want?"

"Yeah, kind of what I just said. You need a place to crash?" Turtle laughed.

Mizuka couldn't say "YES!" fast enough! She beamed and started rambling on about how nice it would be to stay there, how much she missed a soft bed, and how amazing it would be to live with other benders. I blinked and missed her deciding to immediately go back to the creek with Turtle and pick up the few things she had hidden there in the roots of the willow tree.

As soon as that hurricane was over, Hizoku and his raccoon-owl slinked off to the kitchen-thing in the centre of the room and opened his bag. He stocked a variety of industrial shelves with a mix of gum packages, pens, hairbrushes, paper, hand sanitizer, candies, tissues, and other common school bag/purse items. Kind of like a modern-day Robin Hood, I thought.

All at once, I remembered the time _._ _I'm so dead! It must be hours since the end of school by now! And it's still a while home from here. Dad's going to be back at the house any minute and wonder where I am!_

I went for the wall that was once the entrance, but there was no way to open it. Embarrassed, I called for help.

"Just knock," Hizoku shouted, still stocking his spoils.

I took his advice and drummed my fist on the cold steel. In response, a loud boom echoed through it, sharp protrusions at the top. Just as before, the wall was ripped open by the young girl on the other side.

I cautiously exited the confusing world that had just been shown to me and started to march home.

As I walked, I couldn't help but run the events of the past two days over and over in my mind. It felt instantaneous and eternal, all at the same time. I already felt like Mizuka was an old friend; I trusted her more than anyone - not counting my dad, of course. That scared me, as dark and twisted as that sounds. People like me don't _get_ to have friends. I'd never had someone close to be before that I wasn't bound to by blood.

What if she wasn't who she seemed? What if she was just pretending to like me? No, she didn't seem like the kind of person to pretend anything. But what if she was just that amazing an actress? No, that was ridiculous. Mizuka may be a bit startling to hang around, but just seemed to glow with innocence and hope. She was a refreshing opposite the world I knew.

But now she would make so many more friends at the... whatever that place is called. I could feel the spark of jealousy briefly paralyze my body. I knew it was selfish to want her to myself, but it wasn't a voluntary feeling. Instead, my mind shifted to wondering if she'd be okay.

Suddenly, it clicked. Sure, I knew that there were homeless kids out there. Mizuka was one of them, but she seemed so cheerful- it couldn't be _that_ bad, right? But facing the tattered, make-shift beds forced me to really register it. She has no one in the world right now. No family, no home, probably not a cent to her name. She was in a foreign city alone. I wondered how such a thing could happen to a person.

My thoughts would have to end there, because I was coming up to my front door. To my surprise, my dad's car wasn't there yet. _He's working overtime again..._ I thought to myself morosely.

Mundane life recovered as I flung myself across the couch and in front of the TV. I let out a deep sigh as I felt myself melt into the cushions. The TV sparked to life- apparently my dad had been watching the News before he went to sleep last night.

A lean, light-skinned man in a dark grey suit read over the latest news. Voting for the national election was coming soon. It was down to two candidates: An nice old lady named Yi Zan and a loud, attention-grabbing man named Jaku Omokage.

Yi was alright. Young people seemed to like her, but she stayed out of the media so much it sometimes felt like she wasn't even there. Omokage, on the other hand, was everywhere.

He uses controversy to keep everyone's attention. Just last month, he said he wants to 'maintain our cultural heiritage by protecting the sacred Spirit Wilds' and 'create strong ties with the rest of the world'. A few days ago, he decided to tear down the 'messy, invasive mass of vines in the middle of our city' and 'show the stick-in-the-mud's that make up the rest of the world how great we are'.

The screen switched to the showman himself, who was about to announce the latest idea that he'd come up with. In front of Omokage were no queue cards, notes, or anything to suggest preparation. He wore a black blazer and a golden tie, whispy, coloured hair bursting off his thick head. After clearing his throat, he began:

"People of the United Republic of Nations. I have a plan. It is a magnificent plan. This plan will probably do a lot of good things, and it'll be great. This plan is one that will change things in our country. I think- no, I know- that we should change laws.

"People with crazy abilities that are beyond normal have been coming into our country and taking up jobs for generations. Firebenders have been coming in from the Fire Nation and been hired to create huge, dangerous bolts of lightning which has been turned into electricity. It would take at least ten normal people to do that job, which means that the livelyhoods of ten people - United Republicans - are going to pay one person from the Fire Nation. Same goes for Earthbenders! They come from the Earth Kingdom and take even more constuction jobs. They lift and big, messy wall of stone. Or, they mess around with some sheets of metal. And waterbenders. I don't even know what they do, but they're taking our jobs. When I'm president, I'm going to make it illegal for these 'benders' to work like this. It's just not right."

I turned off the TV and closed my eyes as shivers ran down my spine. This could make a _lot_ of trouble for people. There were only so many jobs that will accept known benders. I felt a lump in my throat. Who would ever give a job to the most dangerous bender on the planet? _Just another reason to pretend I'm normal._


	5. Chapter 4: Stoking the Flames

Chapter 4: Stoking the Flames

The next morning was nice. It was Saturday, so I was able to sleep in. I breathed in the morning air, savoring its serenity. I stretched and rubbed the last traces of drowsiness from my eyes. I smiled, wishing that the world could stay that way forever. I love lazy Saturday mornings.

But, time still ticks on. I still had to eat, shower, get dressed... _then maybe see Mizuka and Hizoku again?_ The thought took me by surprise. I'd spent my whole life _avoiding_ bending, and now curiosity (and a couple teenage vagabonds) had _literally_ dragged me into this dangerous new world.

I wandered into the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked the same as always, though my straight brown hair was starting to reach my eyes. I'd need to get it cut soon. While I figure that most people would modestly describe themselves as looking 'normal', I looked that way on purpose: the less people noticed me, the safer I was. No crazy hair or bright clothes for me; Just my usual almost-green hoodie and a pair of jeans.

But 'average' didn't only apply to appearances. I was determined to live a perfectly ordinary life. Just like every other non-bender, I planned finish high school with decent marks, go to university, get a common job, maybe get married and have kids, then grow old, and finally die. All according to plan. Was that plan boring? Of course. Would I choose something better if I could? Who wouldn't? But it had always been the best option to keep food on the table, the one with the lowest chance of ending up in a bending prison- where earthbenders are kept on massive wooden ships, waterbenders in dry, automated crates, and firebenders in icy cells. But come to think of it, what would happen to the Avatar?

My heart dropped at the realisation. Here I was, the Avatar himself. What if _I_ was arrested? What prison is cold, has no water, no bendable metal, no earth, and nothing burnable? Could such a place even exist? Would they contain me in a platinum cell? Or would such a job be more expensive than it's worth? Would they just decide to…? I went still with the thought. My Saturday morning had officially been ruined.

Yet a morbid smile cracked across my face: _how ironic that the Avatar needs to play the role of a non-bender to survive?_

So it was decided. As long as I could bend all four elements, I'd have to be careful not to bend any.

After showering and pulling on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, I headed downstairs. It was a little annoying that the June weather was too warm for my favourite hoody, but there was nothing I could do to change it.

"Morning." my dad greeted me from the couch, sipping at a mug of coffee. He looked a lot like me, same dark hair, but cut short. Same facial features, apart from his tired grey eyes. He had a sturdier build than mine, most likely from years of hard labour. I really admire him: his ability to deal with the way things are, to adapt to whatever the world throws his way. He works so hard to to make sure that we have everything we need, and he even managed to hold onto this house for me. My dad made sure that after my mom disappeared from our lives, my world stayed as stable as possible. I love him so much for that.

"Do you want some breakfast? I can make eggs." he offered.

"It's fine, I'll make myself something."

After I ate, my dad told me he was heading out to watch 'the game' with some friends. He'd be back late that night. I was glad he had some fun, he really deserved it.

I left for the bending place after that. I managed to find my way there, though I wished I knew a more direct route instead of retracing the confusing maze that Hizoku took us through to get there.

Goldie was sitting on the stool again, though I still didn't know why she was called that. Not like she had blonde hair or anything.

"Hey, Green."

"My name is Zhe, not Green." I corrected, rolling my eyes.

"Hm..." she hummed, like she needed to think about it.

"Nah, I'm still gonna call you Green."

"Could you just let me in already?" I urged her. She shrugged before turning to the wall and ripping open the door again.

Inside, to my surprise, was filled with activity. With the exception of two people still in their sleeping bags, everyone was busy. A small crowd of people stood between the kitchen-looking thing in the centre of the huge room and the waterbenders' corner. Mizuka spotted me and called me over.

"Zhe! Look! I'm learning how to purify water! We went out _really_ early this morning and took big buckets of water from Yue Bay and carried them back here. Now we're cleaning it!" Her enthusiasm had no bounds.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed a bit of method to the madness.

"First, we dump as much water as we can into this huge pot! The earthbenders pull out as much dirt and sand as they can. Then, the firebenders heat it up a ton so it boils. Gotta be careful not to get to close! After that, the waterbenders- that's me- take the steam that rises and turn it back into liquid. We put that into these jugs that we use for drinking water! How cool is that?!"

"Ah, I know! It's such a great system! Nice and clean! Just like things should be. Just because we're a secret organization of kids with pretty much no money hiding in an old abandoned warehouse with no plumbing or electricity doesn't mean we have to be gross. We still manage quite well." Turtle Mom sighed blissfully.

That's when the 'door' opened again.

"Anyone wanna show the new girl around? Not sure how she figured out where to go without anyone bringing her here, but she's here now!" called Goldie.

Standing in front of the closing entrance was a teenage girl with braided mahogany-red hair. Her emerald eyes were striking and determined. The clothes she wore were a strong dark green. Her fierce aura was hypnotizing.

"Hizoku?!" she gawked, causing the young firebender to whip around from his work to face her direction.

"T-Tamera?!" he sputtered. "What are you _doing_ here?"

She started to march up to him, surprise turning to rage.

"You never showed up, so I took matters into my own hands. Either way, 'What are you doing here?'?! Is that how you greet your little sis? No 'I'm sorry'? 'I missed you so much'? I always knew you weren't the sentimental type, but Spirits!" She was close to him now, and silence fell as she stared him down, eyes inches away from his.

Everyone was frozen. Konni broke the ice.

"...I didn't know you had a sister."

"It's complicated..." he hissed.

"No it's not. Look, you get a lot of Sato kids around here, right? Hizoku used to be one, then he hit 16 and was outta there. Seems like he forgot his lil' sis was still waiting for him in that disgusting prison." she taunted.

"I was going to come back for you! I just had to-"

"Get things sorted out. Right, right, I know. Not sure what _that_ means, seeing as you seem to be doing just _fine_ here. Plenty of food and shelter. Oh, and all for benders too? So what were you waiting for?" she interjected.

"I-"

"Whatever. I'm not here to fight you. There's a bigger fool to burn," Tamera turned to face the rest of the room.

"Benders, may I have your attention, please?" Her voice boomed through the room, but before she could finish her thought, there was a screeching of ripped metal. Once again, the door had opened, but Goldie's eyes were wide with panic. A boy of about ten ran into the room.

"Help! Please! Turtle! A-Anybody! Please, I'm sorry! We need help!" The boy was in tears as he ran to Konni.

"Yon, Yon! Calm down, tell me what happened," she soothed.

"I-I swear, I didn't mean to! P-Please don't be mad!" he cried.

"Alright, alright. But you need to tell me what happened, ok?" She placed a hand on his shoulder, lowering herself to Yon's level.

"I-I-I think I killed someone..."


	6. Chapter 5: The Pheonix

Note: Hey everyone... So, I know it's been a long, LONG time since I've posted any Legend of Zhe, but I promise you, it is not dead or forgotten! The last two years, I've been busy. I just started University, etc... But I still think about it all the time! I've planned plenty of new characters, story arcs, etc, all through the 3 books! (Yes, there will be 3). I'm still a little stuck on some bits, and I haven't wanted to write much until I had it figured out.  
Oh, and I've put together a bit of a playlist too! I've carefully chosen songs that match the theme, tone, and characters all throughout the story (so far). Music, as it turns out, is a very useful tool when it comes to beating writer's block! That aside, enjoy! -Tsukaiyo

Chapter 5: The Phoenix

Hizoku looked over to their very own Mr. Avatar to see what his reaction was to what Yon just said. _Of course_ he was just standing there like a deer-moose in the headlights. Of all earthbenders, _of course_ Raava chose the one without a backbone. But he didn't have much time to worry about that; If Yon had so much as tossed a pebble at a non-bender, let alone _killed one,_ they would _all_ be screwed.

He ran over to the scarf rack by the door and started to tie one around his face. As he did so, he overheard bits and pieces of Turtle's conversation with Yon: Tsudai was teaching him about sneaking rocks around, Yon tripped, nailed someone in the head with a one… Now Tsudai was watching the guy until help arrived. Hizoku grimaced, knowing that they only had minutes before things went from terrible to irreparable.

Tamera started putting a scarf on too, but before she could, Turtle pulled it off down her face.

"Oh, no you don't!"

"You'll need all the help you can get," Tamera insisted.

" We don't have time for this! We have a protocol, and we can't have Beg's getting in the way! So got out of the way now, or Spirits help me!"

"Fine," sighed Tamera, slamming the scarf back onto the rack. She gave Hizoku one final glare before turning away.

Turtle Mom took the lead. As soon as she confirmed that no one was watching, she waved for the others to follow out of the building. The race was on.

They ran through busy streets and back alleys, splitting up at times and rejoining each other at others to avoid detection. It wasn't long before they hear the wail of police sirens, forcing them to desperately quicken their pace.

When the four arrived, they watched in horror from behind the bushes as Tsudai was being pinned by police. Their plan of healing the man and avoiding trouble was over. Time for plan B.

Hizoku evaluated the situation: two cars, four officers. One was holding Tsudai down while a second was questioning him. The second car had only just arrived, officers getting out. _Alright, stun-and-run._

Hizoku nodded to the others in silent agreement before sneaking into the park's clearing and breaking one of the most sacred rules that they had, and started firebending. In front of police.

A kick summoned a burst of flames. A lightning-fast punch turned up the heat. A sharp recoil followed by a strong uppercut launched fire into the sky, and the cops had gone wide-eyed and slack-jawed. _Perfect._ Tsudai looked relieved to see Hizoku, but didn't dare speak a word.

Hizoku continued, cutting the air with an elbow then an arm to send a blade of flames that ended just close enough to the police for them to start to stumble away from the heat. Kota and Ero took this opportunity to run to the empty cars.

A sweeping kick generated an inferno as Kota forced water under the hood of the first car. Ero sent a spark of electricity into it, destroying the battery. Kota pulled the water back out as Hizoku sent out wave after wave of flames, but one of the cops was readying an electric stun-glove. They were running out of time.

The cop with the glove started to rush Hizoku, forcing the firebender to duck and weave around to avoid every strike. His partner had put on a glove too and joined the fight. The other two remembered their task and finished cuffing Tsudai. The battle bought Kota and Ero just enough time to destroy the other car's battery and to force water into the the front doors of both. The boys ducked back behind the bushes just as the police turned around to put away Tsudai. Seeing that his job was done, Hizoku forced back his own two officers with sharp kicks before reaching into his back pocket for a pinch of explosive powder. He lit it as he threw it to the ground, creating a smoke cloud large enough to mask his getaway.

The three of them joined Turtle back behind the bushes and watched as Tsudai was pushed into the back seat of one of the cars. The other two cops got into their own vehicle. That was Turtle and Kota's cue: they froze the water in the front doors, sealing them shut. Tsudai metalbent his door's lock open and burst out. The earthbender ripped a hole in the ground and dove under, sealing the top. Kota and Turtle melted and evaporated the ice, hiding the fact that waterbenders had ever been involved.

Finally, the four of them slipped away as if nothing had ever happened.

Just outside of the park, Tsudai popped out of the ground and joined them.

"Thanks. I owe you," Tsudai greeted them, still running towards the warehouse they called home.

"You really don't need to thank us. You would've - in fact, you _have_ done the same for us," Kota comforted him.

"But this... could've been murder," Tsudai stopped in his tracks, then continued, "I should've seen that root. I could've stopped it, I could've-"

"Tsudai, we know you did _everything_ you could've. Things happen. We just have to deal with them as they come," Turtle Mom cooed.

"But Hizoku- they _saw_ you," Tsudai admitted mournfully.

"And you think I care about that? Idiot. You know as well as any of us what we need to do to survive, to protect each other. I already steal more for our people than anyone, even you! And you know _why_ we do it. It's _because_ of our sacrifices that everyone else gets a chance at life. _So what_ if I commit one more crime? We all know that I'm gonna end up behind cold steel someday, anyway!" Hizoku hissed.

"Don't say that..." Turtle murmured.

"You know it's true! But if it means that everyone else gets to eat and sleep and live comfortably, and without all getting stuck in bending prisons just for trying to _survive_? If it means that they can grow up and live their dreams? Then there's not a thing in the world that can stop me."

They stood in a somber silence for what must have been an eternity.

"C-can we just go home now?" Ero asked timidly.

"Sure thing, kid. Sure thing."


	7. Chapter 6: And Now, for the Weather

Note: I just realized that some people saw this update on the story and thought they'd jump back in, having left off at ch 5, where Tamara had this whole big plan to do some... things... I'd like to ask these people to please read the updated ch 5! This story is a huge project of mine, so it's never really "finished". I realized I needed to change the direction of the story, so I scrapped the old ch 5 ("Who We Are") for the new one ("The Pheonix"). Thanks everyone! - Tsukaiyo

Chapter 6: And Now, for the Weather...

Someone… died?! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Someone was killed by this little earthbender. I watched in terror as Konni left with Hizoku, Ero, and Kota, leaving Tamera fuming and this kid, Yon, weeping. In their wake, the oldest waterbender, Kallik, stepped forward.

"Look, Turtle will take care of it. This isn't the first time we've seen trouble, and it won't be the last. Let's get back to work."

This wasn't the first time? I should never have come. I knew that this place was trouble, but curiosity had deafened me to common sense. I needed to leave before anything else happened, before I threw away my life and everything my dad worked so hard for. I tried my best to fight my nerves and look casual as I shuffled towards the door. I knocked, and a small window was torn open.

"Green? What are you doing? Don't tell me _you_ , of all people, are going to try to follow the mission! Besides, you heard Turtle! No Beg's!"

"Beg's?"

"Beginners. Spirits, what _do_ you know? Maybe if you actually learned something, like how to dent a rock, you _might_ be allowed to come on the next one," Goldie laughed.

"I'm not gonna follow them," I said.

"Then where are you going?" she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Anywhere but here…"

"Well, it's not my job to hold people hostage- at least not if they're benders- but I will tell you that there's no safer place for us than here," she explained.

"I know."

"If you're sure…" She shut the window and ripped open the door. I stepped through, pushed open the outer door, and left.

I sped along the alleyways and streets as I tried to get home. As I went under an overpass, I started to hear police sirens. My heart skipped a beat, and I began to run, absolutely terrified of what could happen if I dared slow, even for a second. I knew that it was ridiculous, that no one knew I was an earthbender, that I certainly _wasn't_ the one who.. threw that rock… I knew that running would probably just make me look guilty, but I just couldn't stop. I felt like I was about to pass out by the time I reached my driveway.

When the pounding in my ears started to subside, I became aware of dragging footsteps behind me. I whipped around to see my pursuer, praying it wouldn't be police.

"Hi… Zhe…" she puffed.

"Mizuka?!" I exclaimed. Her cheeks were bright red on her now pale skin and she was completely out of breath, She was shaking, then collapsed on the grass.

I ran her help her. She was still conscious, but clearly completely exhausted.

"Heh, don't _worry_ about me! I'm _fine_!"

She put an arm around my shoulder and I helped her to her feet. She tried to take a step forward on her own, but stumbled.

Together we walked through my front door, and I helped her onto the couch.

"Seriously, I'm ok! You… You're just a… a _really_ fast runner." she huffed.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Um… Some water, maybe?"

I complyed, bringing back a glass of tap water from the kitchen. She took a big gulp, but to my surprise, waterbended some of it out of the cup and held it against her thigh. The water soaked through her stained leggings and glowed blue under her hand. She sighed in relief.

"So look," she continued, "How about we call that exercise for the week, rest for like an hour or two, and then head back to the Bending-Kid HQ?"

I stood up. "No, I can't. Didn't you hear what happened? Someone was killed! By an earthbender!"

Mizuka sat up. "No, someone was _hit_ by a _rock_. Yeah, it was kinda flung by an earthbender, but still. And wait a sec, didn't you freak out when I saw you earthbending because no one had _ever_ seen you do it before? So you have nothing to worry about!" Mizuka cheered. Her optimism was comforting, but didn't change the fact that it wasn't safe out there.

"Look, I get that that you're freaked out, Zhe. And it makes sense. To be honest, I'm scared too. No matter what the element, there will always be people that will hate us for just existing. Firebenders burn things, earthbenders can destroy. And waterbenders? We're the most dangerous of all." Her expression turned sullen as she stared at the ground.

"And I'm the Avatar! I'm as bad as all those things, combined!"

Mizuka put a hand against her forehead.  
"I get that you're scared, but for now… Well, it doesn't make sense to worry about things you can't change. I don't need to be back for a while, how about we just... forget about things for a bit and put on a mover? " Mizuka offered.  
I nodded in agreement. The screen turned on with a flash to exactly the last image that either of us wanted to see. It was a news report of a bender attack by a firebender and an earthbender. The victim was a middle-aged non-bender man with a severe head injury. His wife was crying that he was just on his way to volunteer at an orphanage, that he'd never hurt a spider-fly!

The news lady came on screen with the specifics of the story, "Just minutes ago, at 11:30am, a vicious terror attack took place. At first, a lone earthbender was reported to police officials as the perpetrator. Backup reported to the scene, only to be ambushed by a firebender."

The video switched to a bandaged officer, who began to speak, "He tried to burn us alive! We both tried to stop him with neutralization gloves, but we couldn't get close enough! It was insane! He was… He was shooting fire right at our heads! We're lucky to have gotten away with our lives." His partner just shook his head in disbelief.

The reporter was back on screen. "Absolutely terrible. We wish you a swift recovery and thank you for your service. As the criminals are still at large, we ask that everyone try to stay indoors and be on alert at all times. The first suspect is described as a firebender, male, with messy red hair- most likely dyed-, about 5'10" and thin, with a light complexion.

"The second is an earthbender: short, brown hair. He's about 5'8" with a medium build. Both are said to be about in their teens to early 20's in age. Tune in again for further updates on the situation."

I turned the TV off.

"Spirits, Zhe… That description... " Mizuka began.

"I know. I guess Tsudai must look a lot like me. Ha, of course he does! _Of course_ the wanted fugitives are people we know! _Of course_ one of them looks exactly like me, if a little older. _And_ he's an earthbender, just like me! What in Vaatu's name am I forgetting? Oh, right! I'm not _just_ an earthbender, I'm the _Avatar!_ Yes, can't forget that!" I was hysterical.

"Zhe, please, we just started to get through this!" Mizuka pleaded.

I sat back down, trying to control myself.

"Y'know, Mizuka, I never asked for any of this. I know that bending is your life, it's everything to the people at that… What did you call it? Bending Kid HQ? BKHQ? Yeah. They all love it, and they practically give their lives to it. But me? I'm… I can't. I'm not meant for this. I'm not supposed to be any kind of important, let alone the Avatar! All of this crazy secret life stuff? It's just... not for me." I admitted.

"What are you saying?"

"Mizuka, I'm sorry. You can stay here and rest for as long as you like, but please, just go back without me." And with that, I turned and left, locking myself in my room before I could change my mind.


	8. Chapter 7: Time Stops for No One

Chapter 7: Time Stops for No One

Months went on, each more endless than the last, until I couldn't notice them anymore.

Day after day after day after day after day…

Waking up, going to school, staring at blackboards as teachers droned on, turning words into scratches on paper, pretending like the pages weren't destined to become crumpled heaps at the bottom of a bag. Wandering home each day with my head down, refusing to check by the bubbling creek, even one last time.

Every word was mechanical: "I'm good, how are you?", "That's good." "School is fine." "Good thing the weekend's coming." "Too bad it's Monday again."

Life was back to normal.

Not a soul seemed to suspect me or my accidental adventures. Hooray.

And in this world of well-oiled cogs, politics were becoming ever-more popular. Omokage was winning, what's-her-face all but forgotten. People had found new benders to fear, and the mystery of the vicious benders of the park was old news.

Yep, the world was still moving. Slowly but surely.

Day after day after day after day after day…

Until it had enough, and fate came knocking.

I had been lying lazily in my room, listening to the same old songs when I heard the quick pounding on the door, and immediately knew that it couldn't be anyone else. As much as I wanted to answer, I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from leaving with her if I did. No, I had to stay put.

The knocking came again, stronger this time.

 _No,_ I thought to myself. _She knows why I can't._

And again.

 _She knows it's too dangerous!_ I turned up my music and tried to ignore it.

The pounding sound filled the house.

I covered my ears, but I could still hear her.

"Zhe, I know you're in there! I SWEAR to the SPIRITS, I will KNOCK this door off it's HINGES if you don't open up!"

She had to be kidding.

"THREE…"

There's _no way_ she'd actually….

"TWO…."

But was I _really_ willing to risk it?

"ONE…"

I bolted, half-expecting the door to flatten me before I could open it.

"MIZUKA! What were you _thinking?!_ What if I wasn't actually home? What if I had just left the radio on or something?!"

"What if I wasn't actually gonna do it?" She laughed mischievously. I noticed that she wasn't standing in any sort of bending stance, just waiting.

"So… um… how've you been?" she asked.

"Uh, good. You… have a new hat," I stammered.

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Mizuka had that sunny smile that I'd begun to miss. She looked a bit different; she had a bright blue band sewed across the top of her tank top, and her clothes were beaten and patched in places. She smelled of campfires and earth. But more than any of that, I noticed that she stood much taller than she had before.

"I learned how to make it at the BKHQ. They really teach everything there- sewing and fixing things to physics and writing. Some things they figured out for themselves, but some kids lend school books. Oh, and look at this!" Mizuka stuck out her wrist, which had a braided blue, purple, and white bracelet.

"Oh, uh, nice. Did you make that?"

"Yeah! It's proof that I passed my first waterbending exam! It was really tough, but Kota and Kallik are awesome teachers! You see, they had this target set up, and I had to-"

"Mizuka, I hate to cut you off, but is there a reason you came over here?"

"Oh, yeah, right," She blushed, "I just come over to tell you… Your birthday's tomorrow."

"What? Well, of course _I_ know, but how did you?" I asked.

"I mean, _The Avatar's_ 16th birthday is tomorrow," she clarified.

And it hit me.

"Mizuka, this is bad! Are you sure it's not 18th or something? 20th, maybe?"

"The Avatar's identity is traditionally released to the world on their 16th birthday, the 16th anniversary of their predecessor's death. Avatar Korra passed away 16 years ago, tomorrow. _Your_ birthday."

Mizuka gave me a comforting look, but I still needed to sit down. I waved her inside and collapsed in a living room chair.

"But, it doesn't have to be all bad. There's more to it," she grinned, "The city is throwing a party! I was wondering if you wanted to come."

I looked towards the TV, confused.  
"I haven't heard anything about a party. If it was the city, wouldn't it be on the news, or something? Wouldn't there be stages and stuff set up? Ads for events?"

"Not _that_ side of the city. C'mon! I'll show you!"

Before I had time to think, she grabbed my hand and we were out the door. She expertly navigated through the busy city streets to the rusty door of the BKHQ.

"Wait, but I'm not supposed to-" I tried to protest, but I was shoved through the door.

In Goldie's usual place, standing -er, sitting- guard, a tall young man in a paint-splattered tank-top and jeans leaned against the stool.

"Hi, Tsudai!" said Mizuka.

"Hey. Who's this?" he stared at me with an unreadable expression.

"Oh, right! Tsudai, this is Zhe! Zhe, Tsudai."

"Uh, hey," I said. Tsudai simply nodded, then pulled the 'door' open.

"Aren't you gonna make me do 'the test'? Prove that I'm a bender since we haven't met?" I asked.

"Mizuka doesn't lie."

"O-kay." I mumbled as we stepped inside. After the door closed, I asked Mizuka about Tsudai, "Didn't the news say he was my height?"

"That's a trick of the BKHQ! When you're on missions and stuff, you try to look a different height. Hizoku's kinda short (but don't tell him I said that), so he tries to look taller. Tsudai's pretty big, so he tries to squish himself down. Makes them a lot harder to find, later."

It was then that I noticed that I'd apparently been transported into the Spirit World. Or at least, the vibrant colours of posters, costumes, and other decorations that surrounded me made me believe so. If the various elements in the corners of the room weren't clear before, they were now.

Each of the elemental corners had been completely transformed into festive, miniature versions of their respective nations. In the Fire Nation's corner, a golden paper mache dragon danced in front of deep crimson banners and huge braziers, stopping occasionally to breathe fire out of its great mouth, though the puppeteers inside got a bit jumbled up each time.

"Remember, it's forward, forward, right, left, back, forward, fire breath! Not forward, forward, left, right, forward, back, fire breath!" shouted someone from the head.

"D'ya think we should maybe simplify the steps?" said someone from the back.

In the Earth Kingdom's corner, which I was admittedly quite curious to see, I noticed that someone had dressed up their pet goat dog as a badgermole by painting the distinctive stripes down its back. A few kids were wearing some nearly ancient jade and gold robes that were clearly a few sizes too large, but were enjoying themselves nonetheless. Others were rearranging the bending rocks into the shapes of tables and chairs, as well as a large Earth Kingdom emblem.

Finally, in the Water Tribes' corner, Turtle sat in fur-fringed blue robes, carefully checking over the stitching on a Water Tribe banner. She was just reaching for some sort of pointy tool when she noticed us.

"Mizuka! _There_ you are! You were supposed to be here five minutes ago! We need to go over your forms for the performance. This needs to be _perfect!_ "

A familiar chuckle came from behind me.

"Turtle, you'd think a waterbender would be able to chill more! Did you even notice that Bubbles brought back our old friend, Rock-Squisher?" Hizoku strolled over to us.

"I thought I was 'School-boy'?"

"Nicknames are an art. I'm trying out a few," he shrugged.

Turtle sighed. "Maybe all this party planning is getting to me. It's just-"

"This is the celebration of the _Avatar_ , but _so_ much more than that! It also represents the unity of _all_ benders, and of the _world_ , and this party has to go _exactly_ right because _we_ were the ones chosen to host it" Hizoku mocked.

"Do I really say it that often?" Turtle asked.

"YES!" replied everyone within earshot.

Turtle just laughed.

"It's alright, really. We know organizing all this puts a lot of pressure on you, but you're doing a great job, Turtle!" said Mizuka, hugging her.

"Thanks, Mizuka. It means a lot," she turned to me, "And since you're here- Zhe, was it? You may as well help out. Feel free to join in wherever."

"But not here. You're just gonna have to wait to see our grand performance with everyone else," Mizuka added joyfully, before hurrying off with the younger girl.

I turned to ask Hizoku what he thought I should do, but he had already walked away.

 _Maybe it won't hurt to just_ watch _some earthbending,_ I thought.

The raw power of the earthbenders was mesmerizing. Their muscles sure and steady, their eyes determined, focused solely on the task at hand. Tamera was leading them, instructing them on exactly how high and wide the stone tables should be.

"Tonight, we'll be pulling these straight from the ground, so watch it! I swear, if any one of you causes that cave to crash down on us, I will dig up your dead body and, Spirits help me, I'll-"

She noticed me. "Ah. Fresh meat, here to help, huh? Grab some rocks, you'll need all the practice you can get for tonight's set up."

"Uh, well, you see…" I stammered.

"What? Get on with it." Next thing I knew, the ground had carried me in front of a heap of stone. Nervously, I tried to copy their forms. First, a wide stance. Got it. Then drawing out the rock, flat by some sort of sliding foot move? And fists, right, gotta get those… And pulling table legs up by bringing the fists up. But wait, when did they move their feet? And - and… I fell on my face. Instead of skillfully creating a table, I had encased my shoes in a thin sheet of rock.

Tamara shook her head in utter disappointment, "So you're the new kid I've heard so much about."  
"I-I guess so…" I said.

"Get up. We have work to do," she said, turning away. Under her breath, she muttered, "An earthbender, afraid of rocks. Absolutely incredible…" I pretended not to hear.

"Seeing as you are too incompetent to do any bending, and this job has no room for amateurs, I guess we can put you to work in other ways. You know how to count? Take inventory of paper plates and plastic cups, you'll be carrying them. They won't be too heavy for you, will they?" Tamera said with a smirk.

"Carrying them where? We're not having the party here?" I asked, but Tamera,her patience for me clearly run out, had turned her attention back to the earthbenders.

With little left else to do, and no particular need to go home, I found the packages of paper plates and boxes of plastic cups and plain wooden chopsticks and began to count them out. I'd look up and lose count, every now and then. I couldn't resist watching everyone practice, and wondering what it would like to be one of them. After a while, my phone rang: my dad was calling about when I'd be home. To my surprise, it was already after dark. I told him I'd be back by midnight; I was curious to see what 'cave' people had been talking about, but I didn't dare tell him. As I put down the phone, I noticed that Turtle had reappeared from the waterbenders' corner.

"Alright, everyone," she said with a grin. "It's time."

I started picking up some boxes, but they were pulled out of my hands.

"Sorry, Green. We don't have room for too many on this job." said Chirah, putting a box under each arm.

"Why not? Tamera told me I'd be carrying these."

"The waterbenders will be busy enough as it is getting people in and out for setup, and too many people carrying things could draw unwanted attention. We'll see ya tomorrow, k?"

"But- wha?" She was already gone before I could say another word. People sure seemed to like walking away in the middle of my questions. With nothing left to do, I started to head home. The crowd of people around the door made it difficult to leave; all transportation of items had to be done in groups of two or three, with no more than a grocery bag or two each. The great dragon head was tucked under a blanket and loaded onto a wagon, to be dragged off to who knows where.

But at last, I was home and shaking with both anticipation and dread of what the next day would bring.


End file.
